TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence of Microbial Translocation Associated with Perturbations in T Cell and Antigen-Presenting Cell Homeostasis in Hookworm Infections
A1 - George, Palakkal Jovvian
A1 - Anuradha, Rajamanickam
A1 - Kumar, Nathella Pavan
A1 - Kumaraswami, Vasanthapuram
A1 - Nutman, Thomas B.
A1 - Babu, Subash
Y1 - 2012/10/04
N2 - Author Summary Hookworm infections affect more than half a billion people worldwide and cause morbidity in the form of intestinal injury and blood loss. Host immunologic factors that influence the pathogenesis of disease in these individuals are not completely understood. Circulating microbial products such as LPS and markers associated with microbial translocation (transfer of microbes or microbial products from the intestine to the circulation) have been shown to play an important role in disease pathogenesis of certain infections like HIV. We have attempted to elucidate the role of the above mentioned factors in disease pathogenesis by comparing the plasma levels of the various markers in a group of hookworm infected and uninfected individuals. We show that circulating levels of microbial translocation markers are elevated in hookworm infected individuals, a potential cause of morbidity in these infections. This is associated with changes in the host immune system, especially in terms of lymphocyte and dendritic cells subsets. However, microbial translocation is not accompanied by increased levels of acute phase proteins or pro-inflammatory cytokines indicating that the parasite has evolved mechanisms to dampen LPS induced inflammation. Thus, our study highlights a novel pathway of pathogenesis in an intestinal helminth infection and improves our understanding of the various factors involved in the complex host-parasite interaction.
JF - PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
JA - PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
VL - 6
IS - 10
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0001830
SP - e1830
EP -
PB - Public Library of Science
M3 - doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001830
ER -